Jerk is a style of cooking in Jamaica. Meat is rubbed or marinated with a hot spice mixture called Jamaican jerk spice.
This came from the indigenous peoples in Jamaica from the Arawak and Taíno tribes. The descendants of 17th century Jamaican Maroons who intermingled with them carried it on.[1][2]
The smoky taste of jerked meat is achieved using various cooking methods, including modern wood-burning ovens. The meat is normally chicken or pork. The spicy jerk marinade sauce is made with allspice[lower-alpha 1] and Scotch bonnet peppers.[3] Jerk cooking is popular in Caribbean and West Indian diaspora communities throughout North America, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Techniques
The cooking technique of jerking, as well as the results it produces, has evolved over time from using pit fires to grilling over coals in old oil barrel halves.[4] Around the 1960s, Caribbean entrepreneurs seeking an easier, more portable method of jerking cut oil barrels lengthwise, added holes for ventilation and hinged lids to capture the smoke.[4] These barrels are fired with charcoal; other jerking methods include wood-burning ovens.
Street-side "jerk stands" or "jerk centres" are found in Jamaica and the nearby Cayman Islands, as well as throughout the Caribbean diaspora.[5] Jerked meat can be bought with hard dough bread, deep fried cassava bammy (flatbread, usually with fish), Jamaican fried dumplings (known as "Johnnycake" or "journey cakes"), and festival, a variation of sweet flavored fried dumplings made with sugar and served as a side.[6]
Ingredients
Jerk seasoning principally consists of allspice[lower-alpha 1] and Scotch bonnet peppers. Other ingredients may include cloves, cinnamon, scallions, nutmeg, thyme, garlic, brown sugar, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, and salt.[7][8][9]
Uses
Jerk seasoning was originally used on chicken and pork, but in modern recipes it is used with other ingredients including fish, shrimp, shellfish, beef, sausage, lamb, goat, tofu, and vegetables.[10]
Notes
- A fragrant spice native to the Caribbean, the dried ground berry of a particular species of the flowering shrub Pimenta dioica. The Jamaican name for allspice is "pimento", due to conflation of the words pimenta and pimento. It is also called myrtle pepper.
References
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